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Are You A Mac or PC Person?

I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC–you remember those commercials, the one with the hip young guy and the nerdy older guy who could never get his PC to do what the Mac always did right out of the box. The commercials were a very successful attack on the PC’s stranglehold of the industry. Since then, people have been wondering which their next computer should be. The decision to buy a Mac or a PC can be difficult. The following comparison should help you decide.

Reasons To Buy A PC

You’ve probably been using a PC for several years at work and at home. You’re familiar with it. Sometimes you love it, sometimes not so much. But you’re familiar with the way it works and are comfortable knowing you will be able to perform all of the tasks you have always performed in the past if you buy another PC. The following are a list of PC strengths:

Affordable – There is a lot of competition in the PC world. Dell, HP, Sony and other top manufacturers compete to bring you the best possible product at the lowest possible price. Macs are generally nearly twice as expensive PCs.

Compatibility – You have a lot of software you’ve purchased over the years–maybe Photoshop or other software titles, such as games. If you switch to a Mac you will have to start all over.

Windows 7 – Windows 7 is arguably the best version of Windows to date. It’s more easier than ever to network computers, stream media, share printers and do other tasks that would have been much more complicated and frustrating in the past.

Upgradability – If you like to upgrade your PC, you have a lot more options regarding video cards and specialized hardware. Your PC can continue to grow and adapt with you over the next several years.

Reasons To Buy A Mac

Macs are not really that different from the PC you’re used to using at home and at work. In fact, you will be surprised just how similar the Operating System is to Windows. It has not always been that way, however. Windows and the Mac OS have slowly been meeting in the middle. Each seem to have taken the best of the other and integrated it into their own Operating System. So fear of having to learn how to use a Mac should not be one of your concerns when making a choice to buy a Mac over a PC. The following are some of the other strengths Macs have over PCs:

Hardware – Mac hardware is better than anything you’ll find on a PC. While some may disagree with that statement, you definitely feel the quality when you touch a new Mac Pro or iMac computer. They feel solid and the design is sleek, modern and sexy. The iPad is another Apple product and is a great example of the design quality Apple puts into their products.

Customer Support – Macs have better customer support. Granted, you do pay for it, but personalized assistance is always available for you online or at your local Apple store.

Security – If you have a PC, you know viruses are a way of life. It doesn’t have to be that way, however. Macs are historically more secure than PCs. While it’s not impossible to get infected using a Mac, it is certainly less likely.

Ease of Use – Macs really do work right out of the box. Printing, file sharing and other difficult tasks are a breeze when using a Mac.

Bootcamp – You can even run Windows on a Mac using Bootcamp, special software that allows you to install Windows on a separate partition of the hard drive and boot into the Windows environment whenever you need to. So if you DO have specialized software that only runs in Windows, you can still use it.

In conclusion, both PCs and Macs are great for their own reasons. To sum it up, Macs will cost more but are better quality. PCs are less expensive, more familiar to you and compatible with expensive software you might already own. Switching to a Mac can be a scary concept. If you have an Apple store near you, do yourself a favor and stop in and play with some of the computers. In addition, if you’re a Windows XP or Vista user, be sure to take a look at Windows 7–it’s great. In the end, you should make the choice based on your budget and your own personal preference and needs.

These comparisons were based on broad generalizations in the industry. For the record, I use and love both equally and have no preference or bias toward either. Feel free to comment on your own opinions for PCs or Macs.